Thursday, June 10, 2010

Day 27 - Go See The Trashcan Sinatras This Sunday, 6/13 at World Cafe Live!

Besides being blessed with one of the all-time perfect band names, the Trashcan Sinatras also have one of the great Brit-pop vocalists in Francis Reader, whose early choirboy vocals have morphed into a lower register, beatific purr over the years. They have also unknowingly provided (along with fellow Scots Aztec Camera) the soundtrack as the go-to album in my house for many "special" moments. Thank you Trashcans.

The unstoppable one-two opening of "Obscurity Knocks" and "Maybe I Should Drive" on their 1990 debut Cake trumpeted a band destined for years of gold albums, decadent limo rides, fashion models and empty record company promises. With only five records in 20 years, it seems only the empty promises were delivered. But they have returned (six years after 2004's mostly terrific Weightlifting) with the gorgeously sketched In The Music, which manages the deft trick of often sounding sunny and downbeat at the same time.

The hallmark irresistible refrains from earlier records remain in such standouts as the love-affirming valentine "Morning Rain", whose sentiments couldn't be clearer ("And the finest thing that I've ever done / Was say "I do"/ And have it whispered in return"), and the Cake-like folk bounce of the hit-in-waiting "Prisons". But my favorite track is the lovely and heartbreaking closer "I Wish You'd Met Her", a lump-in-the-throater for a lost but constantly remembered love. This is grown-up pop music for music lovers who have found their way to Coldplay, Travis, Keane, Crowded House and The Smiths but somehow missed one the most expert practitioners of Brit-folk-pop. Given In The Music's long gestation period (these songs were recorded mostly in 2007 and 2008), The Trashcan Sinatras seem destined to remain great for only the devoted few.

What can you do to change this? Call up your local AAA radio station and tell them to play the first single, "People". Harass Alexandra Patsavas, who has placed scores of Trashcan Sinatras-sounding songs in just about every relationship drama on TV, and tell her to start using the real thing. And lastly, go see them when they come to your town. And if your town is Philadelphia, then go see them Sunday night at World Cafe Live. Maybe you'll have your own "special" moment.